Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/83635
6A Daily News – Thursday, September 20, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Life and death in the back alley One of the principal argu- ments for legalizing abortion was that it would eliminate injury or death for desperate women driven to back alleys and amateurs for their abor- tions. In fact the statistics are virtually unchanged since Roe v. Wade; organizations such as Planned Parenthood have made it so difficult to monitor safety conditions and the numbers of incompetent doctors staffing facilities has seen to that. if Governor Brown signs leg- islation currently atop his desk. SB623 was originally created to regulate the boat- ing industry. But those stats will change have recreated it to permit abortions to be performed by non-physicians – what we used to call back alley practi- tioners. Allegedly the bill releases restrictions on a government funded program operated by UC San Francisco to train midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to perform abortions. The train- ing is co-sponsored by Planned Parenthood and has brought in nearly four million dollars – from the state – with another three and a half mil- lion promised. It is justified on the grounds that there are not enough doctors to meet Amendments and deletions the demand for abortion in the state. Unmentioned is the fact that more and more doc- tors refuse to perform abor- tions on grounds of an awak- ened conscience. Down- played is the fact that Planned Parenthood and the university refuses requests for indepen- dent review of patient files (with identities safeguarded, of course) or even informa- tion on how many have received this training. Reality is the old fashioned back alley practitioners had as much training as these folks get, and the same secre- cy. Reality is that only doc- tors of veterinary medicine can abort your pets but any- one who has undergone this program can abort your daughter. The only good news is that Governor Brown has not yet signed the bill into law. There the issue rests until he signs it, vetoes it, or it becomes law automatically at the end of September through inaction. Naturally I am hoping and praying the governor will be inundated with requests to veto this barbaric bill. He can be reached at 916 445-2841. But I hope and pray for more than that. I ask the Lord our God – and people of good will across the state – to final- ly engage in a meaningful dialogue about issues of life and death in California. For the record I have been seek- ing and waiting for such a dialogue – one cen- tered on when human life begins and the social, legal and cultural ramifi- cations of that for 30 years. Without excep- tion I have been told by the other side that they don't want to talk to a troglodyte such as myself, wait my turn while the other side tells its story – my turn has not come in the past three decades – or, yes, we want to talk and we'll call you – but the phone never rings. My personal opinion is that all the evidence – med- ical and otherwise – points to human life beginning at con- ception, but I would love to see someone actually chal- lenge my viewpoint instead of just insulting me for holding it. The spiritual jury is in – and that is indisputable. The Bible is shot through and through with God's attitude toward everybody – including all babies and all mothers. The Christian movement was unique in demanding that the Roman and Greek cultures in which it grew would hereafter James Wilson thousand of them regardless of the conscientious objections so many of us hold. And yes, I want the moth- ers who genuinely fear a cri- sis pregnancy to be given assurance that all of us are willing to be of help and without judgment. But for starters I will be happy if the governor vetoes this bill so that these mothers are not sent back to the back alleys. respect pre-born human life. This respect for life became a hallmark of western civiliza- tion that saw no seri- ous challenges until I was a teenager. I do want to see our state enter into serious dialogue about the arguments for and against being the national leader in providing abortions. I want to know why we perform a quarter of the abortions in America while accounting for a tenth of the population, and I want to know why taxpayers fund thirty James A.Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships and The Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at praynorthstate@charter.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. No more 'Mr. Nice Guy' foreign policy Commentary As truth's brilliant light breaks through the fogginess of mistruth as to the reason behind the violent anti-American senti- ment currently burning its way across the globe, one thing is for sure: An internet YouTube video is not the culprit, and those who say it is are either seriously misinformed, trying to deflect blame, delusional, lying – or a little of each. as former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice so eloquently stated during the recent Repub- lican National Convention, the world no longer has an answer to a most pressing question "Where does America stand." Every which way but loose, it seems. Of all the terrible scenes por- traying the violence this past week, the picture most concern- ing is that of the video's creator -- an American citizen protected by our Constitution's First Amendment -- being ushered away by federal agents purport- edly due to a potential parole violation. Sure. Got it. Or, maybe… it was an attempt to throw red meat to those in the Mideast region who seem to wear their religious sensibilities on their sleeves, since repeated apologies have not worked… Just thinking out loud here. Let's be honest; the Obama administration's "Mr. Nice Guy" approach has failed miser- ably; those teethed on blood- shed view congeniality as weak- ness rather than strength. As a result, the Mideast region burns today with a raging fire kindled by fear and uncertainty because, always stood against evil regimes and ideologies, and stood for, as Ms. Rice said, "free peoples and free markets." Because we have an administra- tion that wishes to stand on all sides of every issue, the world is more dangerous than it was when everyone clearly under- stood our position. Attempting to have it both In the past, America has ways eventually forces us to either stand for our founding principles or reject them -- as recently happened when the Obama administration made the preposterous decision to sacri- fice our First Amendment rights on the altar of political correct- ness. For the unaware, the administration recently asked Google to remove the YouTube video from the internet. Thank- fully, Google refused. doing, the Obama administra- tion sent a loud and clear mes- sage to Muslim extremists that our Constitution is subservient In so to their extremist beliefs. The leader on the ground, Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif, story does- n't mesh with the White House's canard regarding the video. el-Megarif told Al Jaz- erra he believed the attacks on the embassy in Libya were pre- planned by "experi- enced masterminds" quite possibly con- nected to al Qaeda. From the BVD bomb- ing attempt, to the failed Times Square bomb plot, and the Fort Hood massacre, the Obama administra- tion has tried to paint a picture that Islamic extremism is a non- issue. GM's alive, lest we forget), but getting one heckova lucky opportunity to sign your name to a military operation does not sound foreign policy make. During his Cairo speech in 2009, Obama promised his leadership would be better than his predecessor's. Obama vowed, "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based Sure, bin Laden's dead (and upon mutual interest and mutu- al respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclu- sive and need not be in competition." One look at the flags, as dark as the Jihad they represent, rising across the Middle East will tell you who appears to be win- ning. Susan Brown American flag-draped coffins holding the remains of patriots savagely murdered in Benghazi is proof-positive as to how badly the world needs to know where America stands. ----- and urgently needs American leadership but it is missing in action. The gut- wrenching scene at Joint Base Andrews last week of four The world longs for Susan Stamper Brown is an opinion page columnist, motivational speaker and military advocate who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. Email Susan at writestamper@gmail.com or her website at susanstamperbrown.com.